KAPLAN BAR REVIEW hangout Forum

[thelawdoctor]

I noticed that Themis students are doing one, so instead of my burning up their board, any Kaplan students here want to talk about their experiences and issues?

[courtneylove]

okay for me so far. i started last week and am behind
i like the foundation courses. haven't gotten into the dreaded essays yet.

[thelawdoctor]

Any reason why you are falling behind? How do you plan to catch up?

[SAOJD10]

Hey finally a board for us! What are ya getting on these check point quizzes? (Percentages)

[thelawdoctor]

Hey finally a board for us! What are ya getting on these check point quizzes? (Percentages)

Right now between 70 to 82%. I was getting as a lot lower before the lectures started during the "I hope you got most of these wrong because........" phase of the videos.

Cute avatar by the way.

[starchinkilt]

I dunno why Kaplan made me do a crim pro essay in my essay workshop when I haven't even gotten to crim pro in the schedule yet. It's like they want me to feel stupid and unprepared.

[SAOJD10]

Only thing that has me worried is how they are cramming a crap ton of state portion topics two weeks before the test, especially when all I hear is about the frenzy which started around that time (frenzy level of studying)

[courtneylove]

Any reason why you are falling behind? How do you plan to catch up?

Started behind, not falling behind. I started late because of my school's exam schedule (just finished exams). Will catch up by studying over the weekends, since no weekend sessions are scheduled on my syllabus. I'll probably double up on real property too, since those are easiest for me.

[starchinkilt]

Only thing that has me worried is how they are cramming a crap ton of state portion topics two weeks before the test, especially when all I hear is about the frenzy which started around that time (frenzy level of studying)

I have been taking weekends off mostly, so sometimes I'll read the bar points book for a subject to get familiar with it. That way state law won't be completely foreign to me in July. The bar points book is pretty condensed and no subject should take more than 30-45min to skim through (like in Michigan no-fault insurance is only like 5 pages).

[thelawdoctor]

Any reason why you are falling behind? How do you plan to catch up?

Started behind, not falling behind. I started late because of my school's exam schedule (just finished exams). Will catch up by studying over the weekends, since no weekend sessions are scheduled on my syllabus. I'll probably double up on real property too, since those are easiest for me.

It happens, you sound like you have it figured out. There is still plenty of time to do that.

[mness]

Hey finally a board for us! What are ya getting on these check point quizzes? (Percentages)

Right now between 70 to 82%. I was getting as a lot lower before the lectures started during the "I hope you got most of these wrong because........" phase of the videos.

Cute avatar by the way.

I've only had one checkpoint quiz so far. Am I missing something?

[thelawdoctor]

Hey finally a board for us! What are ya getting on these check point quizzes? (Percentages)

Right now between 70 to 82%. I was getting as a lot lower before the lectures started during the "I hope you got most of these wrong because........" phase of the videos.

Cute avatar by the way.

I've only had one checkpoint quiz so far. Am I missing something?

If you mean the torts one on the syllabus I got a 71. I was including the other exams as well, more of a blanket statement I guess.

[tstyler98]

Just wanted to stop in and say hi. Have done Torts and Contracts already, and currently doing Real Property. Not really sure how I'm going to remember so much stuff, but I guess I'll get there over time. Just keep telling myself I only need a score high enough to pass.

[thelawdoctor]

Just wanted to stop in and say hi. Have done Torts and Contracts already, and currently doing Real Property. Not really sure how I'm going to remember so much stuff, but I guess I'll get there over time. Just keep telling myself I only need a score high enough to pass.

make sure to keep doing the practice tests and read the reasons why they were right/wrong
I know that helps me
sounds simple, but works, and can be vital

[tstyler98]

Just wanted to stop in and say hi. Have done Torts and Contracts already, and currently doing Real Property. Not really sure how I'm going to remember so much stuff, but I guess I'll get there over time. Just keep telling myself I only need a score high enough to pass.

make sure to keep doing the practice tests and read the reasons why they were right/wrong
I know that helps me
sounds simple, but works, and can be vital

Thanks. But I'm already doing that. I learned that from when I was studying for the LSAT, and it was reiterated while I studied for the MPRE.

I'm less worried about remembering stuff for the MBE then for the essays. But I did a practice essay the other day and I remember the rule from that one now, so I think working on a lot of practice essays will be the ticket. So, basically the essay version of what you suggested.

[deebs]

Anyone know of someone previously who didn't watch the videos and passed? I feel like I could make much better use of my time by just going through the outline books and bar notes, and then just hammering out practice questions. These videos put me to sleep.

[ArthurEdens]

Anyone know of someone previously who didn't watch the videos and passed? I feel like I could make much better use of my time by just going through the outline books and bar notes, and then just hammering out practice questions. These videos put me to sleep.

I'm tempted to do the same, but I think that it's worth watching at 1.5x speed. It doesn't take up too much time (2-2.5 hrs) and is a good refresher before I really sit down to study/memorize the information. Learning the info in multiple formats, as cliched as it sounds, is probably a good idea, especially when the profs indicate the relative importance of different sections.

Although the bar app Qs throughout the lectures are mostly easy, there have been several where the answer wasn't obvious to me and clarified a point that was missing in the notes.

I dunno why Kaplan made me do a crim pro essay in my essay workshop when I haven't even gotten to crim pro in the schedule yet. It's like they want me to feel stupid and unprepared.

I'm saving the checkpoint quizzes until I've had a chance to review the information. Test prep companies love giving quizzes at the beginning just so they can say "look at how much improvement we provide to our students." I'll get more out of it once I'm more prepared.

[Royal]

Does it seem to anyone else like the questions in the red book get harder as you go?

[courtneylove]

Does it seem to anyone else like the questions in the red book get harder as you go?

They are SO hard, and tricky! I was doing better on the foundation course quizzes before I had reviewed any of the material. The red book questions are making me suspicious of all the easier questions in checklist quizzes, tbh.

[SAOJD10]

I feel like the red MBE workbook covers different very nuanced areas in each topic, especially areas I feel like the lecture glances over they really drill down in some of those questions. Also, the explanations are a 100% better than in the MBE online Q bank

[courtneylove]

the essay drama is horrible. this dude just pulls frameworks out of nowhere. mbe studying is fine but this shit makes me sorry i signed up for the bar exam.

[SAOJD10]

the essay grading pisses me off I signed up w/Kaplan. I submitted a torts essay tonight, and the feedback consisted of maybe develop this rule statement better but overall good even though Kaplan graded it at "below the standard." Just sends me mix messages w/barely any constructive feedback

[Silverback]

Does anyone have any guidance on what we need to be scoring on these MBE sample questions?

After doing a bit of research, I read that after we do our mid-term MBE Exam, we are told that a 50% score is considered to be good. However, I am not sure if those problems are going to be extremely difficult. As you all probably know by now, the questions for each topic are as follows: 33 questions in the workbook, 16 questions in the workbook, the checkpoint quiz, and then a final 33 questions in the workbook to conclude that particular topic. To me, it appears as if the workbook problems tend to get harder as you go along. By the time I get to the final 33 workbook questions, I get about 70-80% correct. For the PA exam, I assume that I am in an OK spot, considering that the average MBE score tends to be in the 60% range. Also, I believe that the Kaplan problems on average tend to be more difficult than the actual MBE. As a result, I would suppose that my percentage would be a little bit higher on the actual exam, allowing me to at the very least score in the average range. For the bar, average works for me.

Anyway, I am guessing that Kaplan doesn't tell you what a "good" score is because they do not want you to feel over confident and begin to become lackadaisical with your studies. This appears to hold especially true since if you fail, they may have to give you a free bar course for your next go at the exam. Of course, they wouldn't want to have to do that!

Occasionally in law school, we would be given MBE style quizzes in our classes, where the goal for me was to go for a perfect score. On the MBE, it seems like that expectation would be an impossible one to meet. However, with that being my prior experience with multiple choice questions, I find myself getting frustrated about each and every question I get wrong. During the property section, I had to take a moment to chill out because each time I would pick a wrong answer, I became more and more infuriated. Now, I am getting used to the fact that I can't get everyone right, and on the actual exam, an average score serves you well.

[thelawdoctor]

Does it seem to anyone else like the questions in the red book get harder as you go?

It sure feels like that anyways. You think its on purpose that way, to go from a warmup to a bit harder each time to get ready for the real thing by the end?

[Silverback]

Does it seem to anyone else like the questions in the red book get harder as you go?

It sure feels like that anyways. You think its on purpose that way, to go from a warmup to a bit harder each time to get ready for the real thing by the end?

In an attempt to find some guidance, I emailed my Kaplan bar rep about how I should be scoring on the questions. I told him I tend to end up being in the 70-80% range after I do the last set of questions. He said during bar review that students sometimes get caught up with their scores. In actuality, he said the questions serve more as practice and exposure to the material and how it will be presented to you on the exam. In essence, the review of the material and questions you get wrong are probably more valuable than actually getting all of the questions correct and thinking that you are golden. As he put it, you could be getting 90% right on each set of questions, and then on the exam, you only see 10% of the questions in that section that you scored a 90%. If your success on the practice questions resulted in laziness, then you may find yourself in a precarious position come exam day.

In sum, as I suspected, your goal should be to do as many MBE questions as you can and be sure to not slack off on the MBE assignments. After all, the bar exam is somewhat of a game, where even a very smart person can do poorly if they do not know how to play the game. I think the most important thing is to keep doing your best and to keep a positive attitude about the entire thing.